The way it turned out, Phil Mickelson wasn’t the only one to throw away the U.S.

Open on the last three holes.

“Three pars to win the U.S. Open. It probably doesn’t get any easier than that,” Ireland’s Padraig Harrington lamented after bogeying each of his last three to finish two behind winner Geoff Ogilvy atWinged Foot Golf Club yesterday.

“I’ll certainly rue this one,” Harrington added.

Harrington, along with Colin Montgomerie, had a great chance to end the 36-year drought among Europeans at the U.S. Open, since Tony Jacklin won in 1970. Instead, it was the third straight Open won by a player from the southern hemisphere, Australia’s Ogilvy, following New Zealander Michael Campbell last year and Retief Goosen of South Africa in 2004.

Ogilvy came home with five straight pars, including a title-saving chip-in.

“At the end of the day, the guy who wins the U.S.

Opens chips in on 17. That’s what a winner does,” Harrington said. “Another guy, like me, it’s bogeys or double bogeys the last.

“The winner does the things right at the end, but it’s only a hair’s-breadth from being like the other guys.” Harrington said he wasn’t comfortable yesterday, shooting 1-over on his final round to finish 7-over for fifth place.

“I was never happy with my game and it just caught me out a little bit at the end,” Harrington said. “That’s a pity, but it’s a tough test out there.

“I wasn’t so comfortable where I was hitting it that I needed to keep myself out of trouble. I got a little bit out of position on 16 and 17 and two bogeys followed.” Harrington tied for fifth in the 2000 U.S. Open, and missed the cut last year at Pinehurst. He also had a share of fifth at the 2002 Masters and at the British Open in both 1997 and 2002.

This showing will raise his world ranking from 27th, but that will seem small consolation.